Einstein on the East End and Some Inspiring Quotes

Einstein inspires me. Not Einstein Moomjy, the one with the famous carpet infomercials, but Einstein the famous scientist. I love the photo of Einstein on the Beach. Perhaps this was the inspiration for the opera composed by Phillip Glass by the same name. Glass’ 4-part Einstein on the Beach is based on many aspects of Einstein's life layered and linked together. There’s a sample on YouTube at this link.

Hamptons.com described how Einstein loved sailing and spent a lot of time on Long Island’s East End.

Einstein, of course, had a lot of faults just as all humans do. But the narrative of his life and the insight of his quotes can offer a fresh sense of inspiration. Who knows, maybe walking on a beach or garden today you'll have an Einstein moment, an intuitive eureka moment.

Einstein found inspiration in nature, in art and in ideas. The following quotes provoke thought and are just as inspirational as when he first wrote them. If you are familiar with some of them, they're worth revisiting for some fresh inspiration.

Einstein promoted the contemplation of nature as a helpful source of overall understanding:

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

Einstein’s opinion about learning emphasizes imagination over information:

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of imagination has meant more to me than any talent for absorbing absolute knowledge.”

For Einstein, intuition and inspiration were of critical importance. He emphasized, “I believe in intuition and inspiration…”

Perhaps the most famous ‘eureka moment’ in history occurred when Einstein was musing while traveling on a street car watching scenes go by outside the window:

“For years he had been trying to reconcile – or prove one of – two seemingly contradictory theories about space and time. While riding a street car home one day, he was struck by the sight of Bern’s famous clock tower. The answer was simple and elegant: time can beat at different rates throughout the universe, depending on how fast you moved.”

Einstein played piano and violin. He found that the intuitive abilities developed through music aid in making scientific discoveries. Thus, he made the following statement:

“The greatest scientists are artists as well,”

Einstein’s distinction between science and art is based on intuition:

“If what is seen and experienced is portrayed in the language of logic, then it is science. If it is communicated through forms whose constructions are not accessible to the conscious mind but are recognized intuitively, then it is art”

One of the three quotes on a memorial statue of Einstein underscores Einstein’s sense of wonder inspired by observing the natural world:

“Joy and amazement of the beauty and grandeur of this world of which man can just form a faint notion.”

Einstein was also interested in exploring the possibility that a spiritual element forms the underlying basis for the existing harmony of nature:

“The scientists’ religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”

Tags: Einstein quotes on nature, Einstein quotes on inspiration, Einstein on the East End, Einstein sailing, Einstein on the beach.

Post originally published at Hampton Rustic Landscapes